It is known to utilize telephone call centers to facilitate the receipt, response and routing of incoming telephone calls relating to customer service, retention, and sales. It is also known to utilize a web based system to facilitate requests and inquiries related to customer service.
At the contact center, a customer is in contact with a customer service representative (“CSR”) or CSR agent who is responsible for answering the customer's inquiries and directing the customer to the appropriate individual, department, information source, or service as required to satisfy the customer's needs. At the contact center, the customer may also enter into an automated self-service system such as, for example, an interactive voice response (“IVR”) system. In an IVR system, the customer interacts with the IVR system directly and has the call processed accordingly. During an interaction, a customer may also enter into self-service systems such as an Internet web-based system to transmit inquiries and identify possible solutions.
Automated self-service systems such as IVR and web-based systems provide useful mechanisms to handle non-complex calls. However, instances arise in which a complex customer inquiry is routed to a self-service system, and the self-service system is inappropriately equipped to address the inquiry of a particular call type. Conversely, instances may arise when simple or non-complex calls are routed to a CSR, when the particular call time could be more appropriately and expeditiously handled through a self-service system. Both instances can result in a negative customer interaction which ultimately may be harmful to a customer relationship. Moreover, improper use or non-use of self-service systems can result in inappropriate allocations of contact center resources, including money, time and human resources.
Accordingly, there is a need in customer relationship management (“CRM”) for tools useful for determining which calls are best suited for use in such self-service systems. In particular, a need exists for tools that analyze calls between a customer and CSR to determine the complexity of a call or call type, and ultimately determine the appropriateness of routing future calls of a particular call type to self service systems.
The present invention is provided to solve the problems discussed above and other problems, and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by prior systems of this type. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.